Boissonnault allegedly wrongly claimed to be Indigenous. A company in which he was a co-owner also wrongly claimed it was Indigenous-owned.
The Toronto Star: OTTAWA—Embattled Edmonton Centre MP Randy Boissonnault is out of cabinet in order to try to clear his name.
In a brief statement issued by his office Wednesday before question period, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he “and MP Randy Boissonnault have agreed that Mr. Boissonnault will step away from cabinet effective immediately. Mr. Boissonnault will focus on clearing the allegations made against him.”
Those allegations include that he wrongly claimed Indigenous identity, and that a company in which he was previously a co-owner wrongly claimed it was Indigenous-owned in order to gain access to federal contracts set aside for Indigenous-led businesses.
The decision to remove Boissonnault from cabinet was presented as a joint one, yet it represents a reversal from Trudeau’s declaration Tuesday that he was “happy” to have Boissonnault “continuing to lead on issues around jobs and employment and represent Alberta in our government.”
That was before Global News reported that Edmonton police are investigating a complaint of fraud made against Boissonnault’s former business Global Health Imports, which he co-founded with Stephen Anderson in early 2020. It’s not exactly clear what the latest complaint entails, but Global News reports have detailed several lawsuits involving GHI’s operations.
Edmonton police, in a statement to the Star, confirmed it received a complaint “regarding a fraud involving a local medical supply company on July 31, 2024,” and said that it is an active investigation.
The police did not clarify what the subject of the complaint is or whether Boissonnault was referenced in the latest complaint.
However, the statement said police have suspended investigations “pending new information” into two other complaints made earlier this year connected to another fraud report and, separately, a fire at a GHI warehouse.
The Conservatives have hammered Boissonnault for months on his dealings with the medical supply business GHI after he was a cabinet minister, and want to haul Anderson, his former partner, before the bar of the Commons to be admonished for failing to comply with their request to deliver private texts and emails, although Anderson did deny the “Randy” referenced in those documents was Boissonnault.
Boissonnault was not in the Commons on Wednesday.
In June the then-minister told a parliamentary committee that after he was named to cabinet in the fall 2021, he left his position as a director of GHI, a company Boissonnault co-founded with Anderson after he lost election in 2019. When the company did not update federal or provincial registries as required, his lawyer did so, Boissonnault said.
After he regained his seat in 2021 and was named to cabinet, Boissonnault said, “I have had no role in the operations of GHI. I have no idea of the financial or operational situation of this company or any of Mr. Anderson’s ongoing commercial ventures,” Boissonnault testified in June.
Boissonault continued to hold — and publicly declare on the ethics registry — his shares of GHI in a separate numbered holding company, however he later said he sold his stake in the company in June this year. His office denied any wrongdoing.
“The minister has never claimed Indigenous status nor has he ever claimed GHI to be an Indigenous company,” Boissonnault’s press secretary Alice Hansen told the Star Tuesday. “It has become clear that Mr. Anderson has frequently made claims on the minister’s behalf without the minister’s permission, or without his knowledge, to further his own interests.”
Trudeau entered the weekly Wednesday caucus meeting without taking reporters’ questions, but at a G20 summit closing news conference on Tuesday, the prime minister had offered tepid support for Boissonnault when asked about the allegations dogging the minister.
The federal ethics commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein in September told a committee he decided against opening an investigation, saying that he did not determine there were “reasonable grounds to investigate” any contravention of the minister’s ethics obligations. That was before news reports about his shifting identity claims. On Wednesday, the ethics office said, ”Any claims made by a contractor about being Indigenous-owned should be addressed to Indigenous Services Canada or Public Services and Procurement Canada.”
Patti Hajdu, Indigenous Services Minister, testified Tuesday GHI had never been added to the government’s directory of Indigenous businesses eligible for a share of federal contracts.
In the House of Commons where all his statements are immune from lawsuits, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre alleged the prime minister personally knew of Boissonnault’s shifting identity claims, and accused the Trudeau government of “corruption.”
“Up until a minute ago, he had a minister with a double identity. The prime minister knew the minister was directing his business illegally from inside cabinet,” he said, without presenting evidence.
“He knew that the minister had falsely claimed to be Indigenous in order to take money away from real Indigenous people, and yet he stood by him up until yesterday. Why is it that he always stands up for corruption on his own side?”
Trudeau responded by repeating Boissonnault “has stepped down from cabinet to focus on clearing these allegations.”
Trudeau’s office said Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor will temporarily assume responsibility for Boissonnault’s duties as minister of employment, workforce development and official languages.
A cabinet shuffle is expected in the coming weeks in order for Trudeau to adapt to the incoming Trump administration, to replace several of his own cabinet ministers who are not running again, and to realign the duties of two ministers — Anita Anand and Petitpas Taylor — who are now doing double duty after the departures of Pablo Rodriguez and Boissonnault.
Cabinet solidarity earlier held on Wednesday for Boissonnault, but one of his caucus colleagues urged the Edmonton MP to do a better job of explaining himself.
“A good bit of clear light on the situation is the best disinfectant,” said B.C. MP Ken Hardie, who said he wanted Boissonnault to explain his position to Liberal caucus .
To date, Boissonnault has flatly denied the allegations as “false,” repeatedly standing in the Commons chamber Tuesday to rebuff demands by the Conservatives that he should be fired from cabinet.
But Hardie told reporters Wednesday on his way into caucus that Boissonnault needed to face the Conservatives’ “character assassination” head-on, and he expected a fuller explanation to caucus.
Hardie said simply saying something is false is not enough, and he said he’d advise Boissonnault to “have a round table” with media, “sit down and answer all your questions.”
Boissonnault claimed Indigenous identity during previous elections, which he has now said is not accurate. The minister previously said his great-grandmother was a “full-blooded Cree woman.” His spokesperson said she was Métis and that other family members have provided records sufficient to claim citizenship with the Métis Nation of Alberta, but Boissonnault personally doesn’t claim Indigenous status.
A handful of Liberals said it is up to Boissonnault to explain himself, saying they don’t have all the facts.
Liberal cabinet minister Sean Fraser said, “I think any time there’s questions about an individual who might actually have the context behind the story, the person closest to it is best positioned” to answer questions.
NDP MP Blake Desjarlais, an Indigenous MP who represents another Edmonton area riding, said outside the Commons that Boissonnault is a “pretendian” whose false claims of Indigenous identity are hurtful, and should be further investigated by a parliamentary committee.
“The fact that he has perceptions of conflict of interest is simply enough to remove a minister. The fact that he’s been investigated multiple times is something now that he has to reflect on and he has to decide whether or not he should stand as the Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre.”
With files from Ryan Tumilty
Tonda MacCharles is Ottawa Bureau Chief and a senior reporter covering federal politics. Follow her on Twitter: @tondamacc.